What Does Genesis 4:10 Mean in the King James?
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew “bloods” (דְּמֵי, dĕmê) are the ones crying, so the ground cannot turn murder into silence.
THE MEANING
Harm done to another still has a voice when the body is hidden and the scene is quiet. God hears it from the ground itself; what is covered is not erased from the one who sees.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that buried violence becomes silent and finished is undone: the blood still cries, and God hears.
THE ROOT
צֹעֲקִים
tso'aqim
GROWS FROM
צעק
tsa'aq
To cry out, call aloud, or raise an outcry.
“crieth” in this verse is tso'aqim. English makes “the voice” the subject, but the Hebrew follows plural דְּמֵי (dĕmê, “bloods”) with צֹעֲקִים (tso’aqim, “crying out”): the spilled blood itself cries. This root also names the outcry of people in distress; here the cry rises from the ground rather than from Abel’s living mouth.
ALSO GROWS
tse'aqah: An outcry or cry for help.
צְעָקָה
The cry heard in Exodus 3:7 comes from this word family, showing how the same root gives voice to suffering that reaches God.
tsa'aq: To cry out or call for help.
צָעַק
Psalm 9:12 uses a related form for the humble’s cry in a verse that also names blood; the root joins appeal with witness.
THE PATTERN
Bloodshed and oppression do not vanish into silence; their cry reaches God, who sees and remembers.
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?THE THREAD
When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.The word translated “cry” comes from the same root צעק (tsa’aq, “to cry out”) as the bloods crying in Genesis. Psalm 9 holds blood and outcry together, showing that the cry of the harmed is remembered.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us